"Argh..." Krystal looked at the girl who was stirring on the bed beside her, she had one hand covering her eyes and the other knocking her temple. "God, my head hurts.." She groaned and kept moving about on the bed until she came into contact with something warm. She gave it a few gentle squeeze that made Krystal's face turn red and Krystal swatted her hand away. Amber noticed the moving object and she opened one eye slowly, preventing excessive sunlight from hurting her eyes even more. "Krystal?" she was surprised to see the girl lying beside her, looking at the ceiling. 

"H-hi." Krystal greeted awkwardly and she sat up slowly. Amber hit her own head a few more times as she got up too, she looked around the room and saw that she was in Krystal's room. She grinned. "Did we sleep together last night?" Amber asked, overjoyed. Krystal just nodded and pulled away the blanket, wanting to get off the bed as soon as possible. "Wait." Amber said and tugged on her wrist, not letting it go. Krystal looked back and Amber gave her a firm nod. She sighed and sat back on the bed. "A-are you still angry?" Amber asked carefully, her hand still on Krystal's wrist. 

Krystal shook her head meekly and Amber smiled. "Thanks." She whispered and looked at the girl in front of her. Krystal noticed Amber's stare but she didn't want to make any eye contact with her, it was awkward. "Have you eaten?" Amber asked softly, hoping that the girl would look up to meet her gaze. The girl just shook her head and Amber jutted her lower lip. "Shall we have breakfast together?" Krystal hesitated and then nodded once. 

Amber grinned and got off the bed by jumping off it. Krystal's lips tugged upward when Amber turned around and reached out for her hand to hold it as they strolled out of the room. Nobody had woken up, yet. Except for them, of course. Amber saw Yuri sleeping on the couch and she chuckled as she remembered Yuri telling her that she should be the one joining the couch instead of Yuri. "What would you like to have?" Amber asked, still holding onto Krystal's hand. 

"Anything." Krystal said quietly and Amber pondered for a moment. "Can we borrow Yuri's car? We will go to the restaurant a few streets away. I saw it and it has your favourite dukbokki." Amber suggested and waited for Krystal to make the last call. Krystal gave Amber a warm smile and she said, "but you have to brush your teeth first." Amber realised that she had not brushed her teeth and she rubbed her nape in embarrassment. "Be right back." She said quickly and dashed to the bathroom. Krystal had already woken up earlier on and did everything. She stayed in the bed to watch Amber sleep, actually. But she didn't want to let the girl know. 

Krystal walked over to the small drawer to fish out Yuri's car key and awhile later, Amber was out. "I will go get change. Wait a minute." Amber said in a rush and sprinted into the room. She changed into some casual shirt with skinny jeans and ran her fingers through her hair to give it a messy yet charming look. She grabbed her chequebook as she did not have any cash on her and rushed out of the room. She grinned when she saw Krystal look at her as she approached her. "Done!" She said happily and then saw Yuri stirring on the bed. "Oh no, come on quick." She whispered urgently to Krystal and took her hand again as they snuck out of the house. 

"The two stupid. Do they think that we don't know what they are up to?" Jessica chuckled and shook her head as she watched Amber reverse the car out of the gate and drive away. Yoona yawned and stretched after Yuri's car was out of sight. "Well, there is someone who doesn't know." Yoona said and pointed to Yuri who was still sleeping soundly. "Aish, don't care about her. Pancakes?" Jessica asked and Yoona nodded eagerly. 

"Here we are." Amber said and unbuckled her seat belt. She shut off the engine and went out of the car first, surprising Krystal by opening the car door for her. Krystal murmured a soft thank you and straightened her shirt as her baby bump was really big, pulling her shirt up a little exposing her belly. Amber frowned and said, "we should buy some larger shirts. Like... maternity clothing."

"You don't have to." Krystal said, clearly did not want Amber to spend too much money on her again. She wondered if Amber knew that she had already returned her the cheque that Amber tossed to her on their first meeting in the hotel, but she decided not to raise the topic as it was not pleasant. 

Amber shrugged, indicating that she did not care about Krystal's opinion. "A table for two please." Amber said to the waitress and the waitress ushered them to the window seat as the restaurant was not very crowded. "Uhm, two bowls of dukbokki, two glasses of mango juice, gimbap and what else do you want Krystal?" She looked at the girl opposite her and smiled. Krystal shook her head and Amber nodded. "That's it then." She smiled at the waitress and then looked back at Krystal. "Are these enough for you?"

"They're fine." Krystal replied, she was still rather formal with Amber. She played with her fingers under the table and had this burning question which she was not sure if Amber would mind answering. But the question slipped off before she could hold it back. "Don't you have work to do in the company?" 

Just before, Amber was looking around the restaurant as Krystal did not talk to her. When she heard Krystal's question, her heart swelled up and could not hide her smile on her face. "I have already asked Lay to tell grandma to take care of everything first. Don't worry." 

Krystal nodded and looked down to avoid Amber's eyes. "Do you know Kai?" Amber asked and Krystal nodded again. "Lay is his brother. We met in the club and I didn't know that he is my new personal assistant. I mean, I thought he was just some friend." Amber laughed and saw Krystal had her straight face on. It looked like Krystal was not very pleased with what she was hearing. 

"You went to a club?" Krystal asked calmly. Her eyes questioning Amber and Amber flustered somehow, she did not want Krystal to get the wrong idea. 

"Uh-UH yeah. I just went there to have a chat with my bros, don't think too much." She chuckled nervously and gripped onto her jeans tightly. Krystal just let it go and thanked the waitress softly when their food was served. "Krystal?" Amber called out when Krystal started eating and Krystal looked at her with rounded eyes. She smiled and shook her head. "nothing." Will you go back with me? She decided not to ask yet and started eating too as she was famished. 

Suddenly, her phone rang on the table and startled Amber a little as she was enjoying the peace that she had with Krystal. "Yoboseyo?" She asked irritably and pressed the phone close to her ear. "What? Aish, can't you take care of it?" Krystal looked up and saw Amber looking exasperated. "Okay Okay. I will settle it soon- Okay fine! I will go back later!" Then she ended the call angrily and switched off her phone. " everywhere." She mumbled under her breath and heard Krystal calling her. 

Her expression and tone changed drastically and asked, "Yes?" 

Krystal's eyebrows raised slightly and she pointed to Amber's phone. "Do you have something important on?"

Amber sighed and sipped on her mango juice. "Ryeowook called and told me that there is an urgent meeting that needs me to finalize the decision. I mean, can't they just send me the document through e-mail? Or ask grandma? Why does it have to be me, always!" 

Krystal kept quiet for a few seconds before she reminded Amber. "Because without you, the company would not be able to function properly. It is your responsibility, Amber." 

"Yes..." Amber sighed out and nodded. Krystal was right. How could she push away her responsibility and complain about her duty? She ought to be more mature and understand the consequences of neglecting her company. Granny Liu may be in charged but she was getting old, she could not attend to everything like how Amber could. "Do you mind if I make a trip back later?" Amber asked Krystal unsurely. 

Krystal shook her head with a firm smile as Amber had made her decision correctly. "OK. I will call Lay to fetch me now. Wait a minute." She said and held up her phone then realised it was off. "Argh damn it!" She switched it on and tapped on the table impatiently as she had to wait for her phone to start up. Krystal chuckled quietly as Amber was acting like a kid again. 

"Where have you been?" Jessica questioned coldly as soon as Amber and Krystal stepped into the house. Amber shivered when she noticed Jessica's icy glare. "I-I brought Krystal for breakfast." Amber answered meekly. "Without my permission?" Jessica snapped and Amber jumped. "I am sorry, really. But she was hungry and you guys were sleeping-" 

"Why are you so nervous? It is not like you're doing anything wrong." Jessica suddenly said with a smile and Amber was stunned for a moment before she realised that Jessica was just testing her. She heaved a sigh of relief and gave a nervous smile at Jessica. "Anyway, where are our breakfast?" Jessica asked, holding out her palm facing up. Amber scratched her head and hissed quietly. "I... forgot..." She mumbled and was scared that Jessica might shoot her daggers again. Instead, Jessica and Yoona burst out laughing when they saw how scared Amber was. Krystal just sighed and shook her head as she sat on the sofa where Yuri was sleeping on. Yuri had already gotten up and was walking out of the bathroom. "Hey bro!" She greeted Amber and saw Amber's face flush. "What's wrong?" Yuri asked, walking toward the four of them in the living room. 

"Nothing." Jessica replied and sat down beside Krystal. 

"Sica, where's my breakfast?" Yuri asked, rubbing her growling stomach. 

"On the table." Jessica said pointing to the dining table and Yuri skipped to it happily. Amber wanted to laugh then she realised Jessica was looking at her. It was scary. She did not even know what she had done wrong. "Sit." Jessica ordered and Amber immediately dropped her onto the ground. Jessica stifled a laughter and Yoona was having a hard time controlling it. 

"Right, today, you will wash all the blanket and do the laundry-"

"Uhm Jessica..." Amber said and scratched her ear as she did not know how to start. Jessica stopped and looked at her. "I... have to go back today." Amber said, hoping that Jessica would not snarl at her or anything. 

"Why? You're giving up already?" Jessica asked, feeling a little disappointed at Amber. 

Amber shook her head firmly and said, "there's an urgent meeting in the company. I just need to go back to finalize something. I will be back." 

Jessica nodded slowly and looked at Krystal. "you're okay with it?" 

"Why not?" Krystal replied and hugged the cushion closer to her body. Amber's heart melted at the sight of it as she thought Krystal was really cute. 

"What time are you leaving?" Jessica asked.

"Soon I guess? Once Lay is here I will leave." Amber stated and she noticed Yoona standing by Krystal. She still didn't know about Jessica's impeccable plan. "Uhm... Jessica?" 

Jessica mouthed 'what' at Amber and Amber continued. "Can I bring Krystal back with me now? I mean..."

"No." Jessica stated firmly. 

"Why! I-I have already done so much and I can't leave her here, with someone..." Amber mumbled the last part and looked down. Krystal felt Yoona nudging at her on the shoulder and she knew that Amber was jealous. She suppressed a smile and looked at her sister. 

"For your information, you still haven't done enough to prove yourself. Anyway, you still have a mission to accomplish." Jessica said, ignoring her sister's pleading eyes. 

"What is it?" Amber asked, looking dejected. 

"Suzy." 

Lay was already driving on the highway back to the Liu's mansion with Amber sitting on the passenger seat, riffling through the files that Lay had brought along so that Amber could get a head start first. "Are you guys okay already?" He asked, looking at Amber for a brief second before he turned back to focus on the road. 

Amber looked up from the paper and said, "I don't know. Jessica still doesn't let her go back with me." Then she lowered her gaze again to read the last sentence on the page. She flipped it over and added, "but I can see that she wants to go back with me already." She smiled triumphantly. 

"Great. Anyway, just to tell you. Suzy has been locking herself up ever since you left that day. We sent food in but she barely ate anything." Lay said, sounding worried. 

She stopped at the huge figure on the page and frowned. "How many days has it been?" 

"About three." Lay informed, looking at the side mirror to overtake the car in front of them. 

Amber gave a soft hum and continued to read the papers. So many things changed within three days. Their stock market fell slightly but it was enough to cost them huge sum of losses. She massaged her temple as she let the information sink in. "Ryeowook didn't call  for a brain storming session?" Amber inquired. 

"He did. But nobody dares to make a move because the risk is too big." Lay replied. 

For the rest of the journey, Amber did not speak a word as she was thinking about how to save her company from the crisis that they were facing now. They were losing a lot of customers and investors. She had to do something before it was too late. The newspaper even stated that her rival company was slowly climbing up above them, some even made up stories that Amber was not capable of handling the business anymore and decided to sell it but no buyers would want to buy ALNO. She was feeling angry, of course but she had to keep cool. Anger would only cause her to act on impulse. 

Nonetheless, she took out her phone and texted Krystal because she was always on her mind. 

To: Krystal :) [ 3 34pm ]

Take good care of yourself, I will be back soon once I have settled everything. Thinking of you :P xx

She shoved her phone into her pocket as she was too nervous to wait for Krystal's reply. She did not know how would Krystal react to her mushy text but it was embarrassing enough. Lay drove into the mansion and Amber was greeted by Henry who was going out again. "Yo sis! Long time no see!" 

Amber rolled her eyes and walked past Henry without greeting him back. Sometimes, she was angry that Henry did not have to work hard and he could enjoy his life. How she wish that she didn't have the company as a burden. 

"wow, what's wrong with her?" Henry asked Lay

"Company is not doing well." Lay said and after Henry nodded, he followed after Amber into the mansion. 

"Grandma!" Amber called out and Rebecca told Amber that Granny Liu was in the home office. Amber rushed into the office and started enquiring about what happened over the past few days as well as discussing what could be done to save the company. 

Meanwhile, a girl on the second floor heard the voice that she yearned the most and she stood up from the corner of the room. She tidied herself in front of the mirror and chuckled to herself, "Amber, you're back. I know you will come back to me."